Decades of bad decisions doomed Sears

October 16, 2018 – Article

CNNQuoted | Brian Davidoff

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Amazon alone didn't kill Sears. The 132-year-old retailer played a big role in its own demise.

Decades of mismanagement and poor decisions made Sears an uncompetitive afterthought to shoppers. Key among the problems was its decision to cut costs while competitors updated their stores and built up their digital businesses.

Sears is hardly the only department store combating upheaval from online stores like Amazon.(AMZN). But Sears' rivals, including Macy's (M) and Kohl's (KSS), made smart marketing decisions and rebuilt their businesses for the digital age.